cruelty in, 450
death in, 240
ending of, 201
existentialism and, 336
Futurists and, 117–18
heroes and, 189, 190
impact of, 211, 240, 295
irony and, 195–96
machine in, 117–18
metal in, 117–18
nationalism and, 191, 200
patriotism and, 191
poetry and, 146, 189–90, 193, 194–95, 197
psychic phenomena and, 196
redemption and, 189, 192, 193, 197
religion and, 195
socialism and, 193
spiritualism and, 196
welcoming of, 189–91, 200
See also specific nation or specific person’s views
World War II, 24, 51, 219, 329, 332, 334, 346–47, 359–60, 380, 387. See also atomic bomb
Wotan, cult of, 318, 380
Yaroslavsky, Emelian, 215, 216
Yeats, John Butler, 165, 166, 169, 171, 173, 175, 176
Yeats, W. B.:
achievements of, 176
androgynous man and, 268
art/arts and, 164, 165, 172
automatic writing and, 198
chaos and, 164
choice and, 538
Christianity and, 171, 172
and drama, 173–74
ecstasy and, 537
and evil, 175
evolution and, 176
and exalted Yeatsism, 174–76
as failure, 166, 176
and fate, 174
Yeats, W. B. (continued)
fears of, 174
Four Faculties of, 174
George compared with, 151
Gide and, 128, 130
and God, 175
as Golden Dawn member, 170
and good, 175
and happiness, 164
and heroes, 170–74, 175, 176
and history, 169, 174
Ibsen compared with, 95
and imagination, 175, 176
imagination and, 175, 176
and intensity, 461
Ireland and, 169, 170–72, 173
and joy, 164
life and, 164, 175
logic and, 164
and love, 164
Mallarmé’s influence on, 147, 164
marriage of, 174
mask and, 172, 173, 174
and materialism, 166, 169, 171–72, 173, 176
and meaning, 164
and metaphors, 173
and mind, 174
mysticism/occult and, 166, 167, 169, 170, 171, 172, 175, 176, 182
mythology and, 173, 176, 267
nationalism and, 166, 170–71, 172, 175, 176
Nietzsche’s influence on, 163–64
and order, 163–66
patriotism and, 171
and perfection, 172
and personality, 164, 174, 538
and philosophy, 175
and poetry, 147, 164, 165
and psychology, 176
and rationality, 169
and reality, 169
and reason, 164
religion and, 164, 165, 173
and salvation, 164
self and, 461
sensations and, 169
significance of, 176
soul and, 174
spirituality and, 165, 172, 173
and supernatural, 169, 172, 176, 179
Symbolists influence on, 164
Theosophy and, 168, 169, 170
tragedy and, 164
transcendence and, 165
and unity, 172–73
and wholeness, 164
will and, 174
Yeats, W. B.—works by:
At the Hawk’s Well, 174
“The Autumn of the Body,” 165
“The Black Tower,” 176
“Byzantium,” 175
“The Choice,” 95
Countess Cathleen: A Miracle Play, 172
The Hour-Glass: A Morality, 172
Per America Silentia Lunae, 173
A Vision, 174, 175, 176
Where There Is Nothing, 172
yoga, 58, 414, 427
Young, Lester, 403, 404
youth:
communist, 211–12, 215
in Germany, 43, 51, 321
as Nietzsche followers, 24–25, 36, 37
vagabondage influence on, 42
Zamyatin, Yevgeny, 450, 543
Zen Buddhism, 395, 402, 412, 414, 415
Zen potters, 394, 395
Zweig, Stefan, 157, 189
Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2014 by Peter Watson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition February 2014
SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
Cover image: Georges Seurat: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte (1884). A fashionable couple dressed in black and gray, who have just been to church, survey their fellow Parisians enjoying a raft of secular pleasures in a lakeside park.
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-4767-5431-4
ISBN 978-1-4767-5433-8 (ebook)
The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God Page 78